Maidenhead & Windsor

More than 700 Maidenhead Royal Borough nursery school children will enjoy a very special road safety lesson next week – with a little bit of help from some friendly puppets and more than a touch of magic!

Starting on Monday, the Maidenhead Royal Borough is driving home the road safety message to its youngest-ever audience with the first road safety roadshow for three-to-five-year-olds at nursery schools.

The interactive roadshow will visit 13 nurseries over five days with 30-minute performances using puppets and magic to spell out basic road safety messages in a series of simple lessons:

· traffic awareness – in particular the importance of always holding an adult's hand
· the importance of colours – red for danger, green for safe
· holding a grown-ups hand and finding a safe place to cross
· stop look and listen
· how to use school crossing patrols

Cllr Antony Wood, lead member for Maidenhead road safety, said: "This is great news! It's never too soon for children to start learning the importance of road safety – and if we can make it fun and enjoyable then those lessons are more likely to become habit.

"I very much hope that those good habits will also continue into their teenage years and beyond. As a country we have a very serious problem as many young drivers and their passengers believe it is 'cool' NOT to wear seatbelts. This is silly and dangerous! As part of this campaign I urge parents to consider whether this is true of their teenage children."

The roadshows will visit the following nurseries:

Monday July 3
Munchkins Pre-School, St Luke's School, Cookham Road, Maidenhead (9.30 – 10am); Boyne Hill Nursery School, Rutland Road, Maidenhead (11.15 –11.45am and 1.15–
1.45pm

Tuesday July 4
The Lawns Nursery School, Imperial Road, Windsor (9.30 – 10am); Little Fishes Pre-School, Furze Platt Road, Maidenhead (11.15 – 11.45am); Cookham Nursery School, Station Hill, Cookham (1.15 – 1.45pm)

Wednesday July 5
Winbury School Nursery, Hibbert Road, Maidenhead (9.30 – 10am); Upton House Nursery School, St Leonard's Road, Windsor (11.15 – 11.45am); Wessex Infant and Nursery School, St Adrian's Close, Cox Green, Maidenhead (1.15 – 1.45pm)

Thursday July 6
Hilltop Nursery, Hilltop First School Clewer Hill Road, Windsor (9.30 – 10am); Alexander First nursery, Kenneally Road, Windsor (10.45 – 11.15am); The Lawns Nursery School, Imperial Road, Windsor (1.15 – 1.45pm)

Friday July 7
St Pirans Nursery, St Pirans School, Gringer Hill, Maidenhead (9.15 – 9.45am); Woodlands Park Nursery, Woodlands Park Primary School, Heywood Avenue, Maidenhead (10.45 – 11.15am); South Ascot Village Nursery (formerly Swinley Primary), All Souls Road, South Ascot 1.15 – 1.45pm).

For more information about the roadshow contact Philippa Baxter, Royal Borough road safety officer on 01628 796577.

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead